Holmesy

I get your point, but finishing 4th and then finishing 6th is not improving, it's literally going backwards.

And I was one step away from being semi-pro! It’s seriously fine margins at PL level. Can Willock add end product to his game? Hopefully, but there are no guarantees. Forgive me for being cut-throat but I’d rather we signed a genuinely class, guaranteed improvement and if Willock fulfils his potential, great problem to have! Wilshere was touted as the next world class CM maestro not long ago and ended up having an underwhelming career. He was much higher rated than Willock and ended up a journeyman.

Yeah, it was a fairly negative view of a squad that played and finished amazingly last season. But you have to improve, firstly because everyone else is and secondly, because every team has spent since last season analysing us and figuring out ways to beat us. Going into a season with some unknown factors usually helps. I guess we’ll see where we end up at the end of the transfer window, but given how long it takes Eddie to get players up to speed, early signings would’ve made a lot more sense. I realise it’s not Football Manager but come on ??‍♂️

I get where you’re coming from but it’s the lack of depth and balance that concerns me. People rave about Willock but he has no end product. Wilson is injury prone and we only have Isak behind him. Almiron had a good season but he’s not top drawer. Trippier is our only RB and we don’t have a first team LB. Burn looks to be our backup option but that’s a depressing thought. Schar or Botman get injured and the replacements are a significant step down. It’s not all negative obviously. We’ve got some great quality but there are glaring gaps. With full first teams out, I’d say we’re on a par with Spurs and Man Utd. I’m more worried about Villa this season though. Would Almiron, Burn, Targett, Murphy or Willock get into any of their squads, let alone first teams?

I think the feeling of disappointment around this transfer window is triggering my Ashley PTSD. I know we’ve signed two international players but it’s hardly been the most exciting window for us. I think we were all hoping for much more by this stage.

Their front line of Mahrez, Maxi and Firmino is going to do some damage

Shady as fuck!

We’re going into a Champions League campaign! Do you really want to see Dan Burn at LB? Half of our supporters were calling for him to be dropped in the last 3rd of the season, not because of his defensive contribution but because we had nothing attacking-wise down the left. Targett was available for large parts of last season but didn’t get a game, so Eddie clearly doesn’t rate him as a first choice LB. Teams will have done a shitload of analysis on us in the close season, so we can expect a hell of a lot more pressure on our right hand side. If we don’t add another attacking dimension it could come back to bite us.

Surely we can’t go into this season with no first choice left back?! It’s arguably the position we’ve needed to strengthen most and we’re about to sign another right back. I know ‘trust the process’ and all that shit but the full back situation is a bit of a head scratcher!

The fact that the playing field isn’t level is the biggest frustration with FFP. The Sky 6 have been allowed to fuck it off and spend whatever for the past decade and it’s only now that the PL/UEFA decide to enforce it, when we’re swimming in cash.

Bruno called for it

Who’s this Gordon lad?! Looks class!

We should probably take Lewis off - Watford will be rescinding their interest at this rate

Tonali seems to be finding this piss easy! He’s about 5 seconds ahead of everyone else

It'll all start hotting up once teams stop with their ridiculous fee demands and players with their daft wage demands. We'll just be playing brinksmanship now

I guess we'll see if he joins. Other than Maxi i don't think any of our wingers cut it at this level and need to be replaced. I'm not sure Barnes elevates that level much at all. Gordon is excluded from that comment because the jury is still out

I can see us aiming a lot higher than Barnes. Seems a bit of a sea change signing the Italy U21 captain from AC Milan and then going after a decent but nothing special, newly relegated winger. We're probably happy the rumour is out there and we're not denying it so reporters are thrown off the scent of who we're really after. Of course, if i'm wrong and we do sign him, he'll be England regular Harvey Barnes who has the potential to be world class.

The same could be said for Trippier, Bruno, Isak, Botman and Tonali. The fact that it’s so publicly reported suggests it’s just agent talk anyway but if not and we can snag him, great. Some players want London, some move for the wages and some only want to sign for Man City. But some love the idea of being part of the new NUFC legacy. Maybe that’s Chiesa as well.

That’s the one. I used to play football with Cole Pearson. We definitely don’t want him! ?

He’s had a fall from grace but when he broke through he was excellent. At 22 he could be an absolute steal. I’d still prefer Cole Palmer from Man City. Similar age and hasn’t properly broken through yet. Whether they would let him go or he would move is a different matter, but they do tend to let some fringe/youth players move on ??‍♂️

Good on him if true, it's exactly the right attitude. It's short career and he doesn't want to spend it warming a bench. At 20 years old the best payers are already established first team regulars. If he backs his own ability to do the same, fair play to him

Not enough end product for a team in the Champions League and challenging towards the top of the PL. If he could add composure to his game he’d be a fantastic player, but it’s a big ‘if’

I reckon Eddie would turn him into a world beater again but he’s apparently on £350k a week at ManUre. He’ll just see his contract out there or go on loan - no one is picking that wage bill up

The first half of the transfer window is a seller's market - teams chucking out inflated prices, not budging on valuations etc. As long as we've got a list of alternatives for each position we want to recruit in, the sensible play is to wait. Every club knows we have money so they'll try to bend us over. Players too. We just need to hold strong and the prices and wages will start to come down

That’s a shit compilation and doesn’t come close to doing justice to the season he’s just had for us. Who the fuck put that together?!